Guest guest Posted June 16, 2005 Report Share Posted June 16, 2005 continued.. No limit has been placed on God's name either. You may take His name according to your own desire, based on whatever language you speak or country you are from. He has no objection to this. It is not that one name is greater or lesser than another. To think this, is an unforgivable spiritual transgression (akchamya namapradh). Shree Krishn's childhood friends used to call him, "Kanhaiya." Mother Yashoda called Krishn and Balram, "Kanua" and "Balua" or just "Lala." The Gopis would call Him a "stealer of Their hearts" (chor-jar) and Shyamsundar would be most eager to hear these loving taunts from them. In Dwarika, Krishn's loving name is "ranchor," which means the one who ran away from the battlefield. He received this title from His bhaktas, because, out of fear of Jarashandh, Shree Krishn left the fight and ran away to Dwarika. All the names that are given to God based on His different leelas are a source of receiving great loving Bliss for both, the devotees and God, provided that there is an intimate loving relationship between them. Without love, all the names and forms are useless. One should not think that a certain name of God is superior to other names, or that only through a particular name he may attain God quickly. Actually, any of His names, forms, or actions which emphasize His almightiness are not loving to the devotees. On seeing Shree Krishn's awe-inspiring, fear-inducing universal form (virat roop) of almighty God, Arjun folded his hands and prayed Krishn to assume His original two-armed form, which was loving to him. So we know that only those names and forms that relate to His loving leelas and boundless compassion are truly sweet. By remembering these, one has the opportunity to think, "See how compassionate God is and how much love He has for His bhaktas!" An illiterate Gopi is reprimanding Shree Krishn by calling Him a stealer of Her heart (chor-jar), and Shree Krishn is absorbed in her love and adores her sweet taunts." Thus, there should be no confusion regarding any of God's names. In the same way, let us think about the topic of the leelas. Whatever leelas of Ram, Krishn and other forms of God are written in the scriptures, are like a drop of water in a boundless ocean. The leelas of Ram and Krishn are happening every moment since eternity, and all of these leelas are ever-new. To regard them as having a limit is ignorance. "hari ananta hari kathA anantArAmAyaNa zatakoTi apArA" - Ramacaritamanas The descensions and leelas of God are unlimited. Whatever leela you could imagine, that has already happened. You should understand that seeing your pure love for Him, He can do everything for you. However, if your imagination is without devotional emotions, then the question does not even arise of His doing a leela or not. Just like the leelas, the Divine virtues of God are also limitless. Take the help of any virtue which is loving to you for your devotional remembrance. It is not necessary that you should pick only a certain virtue. Due to the influence of the past sanskars, one devotee finds a particular virtue of God to his liking, and another devotee feels attracted to another virtue. One should not make any distinction between them. Whatever virtue a person finds pleasing to him, he should choose that for his remembrance. All the Divine abodes are also one. Choose the one that appeals to you. God can be found anywhere, because His abode is also omnipresent. Just as His form is Divine, you should also remember that His names, virtues, leelas, and abodes are also Divine. "prabhu vyApaka sarvatra samAnA prema te pragaTa ho hiM bhagavAnA" The Ramayan says that God remains equally present everywhere. If someone wants to see Him in some special personal form, even that personal form is omnipresent everywhere. In the same way, whichever abode is to one's liking, one should remember that abode and not make any differentiation between the abodes. One should understand that all the descended Saints (acharyas) are one. We may accept a particular acharya, but we should not have any ill-feeling towards other acharyas. It is important to remember that God's uncountable names, uncountable forms, uncountable virtues, uncountable leelas, uncountable abodes and uncountable Saints are all one. They all reside within each other, and one can attain God by dedicating to any one of them. To criticize them in any way is a spiritual transgression. A person should devote himself according to where his interest lies, and beyond this he shouldn't use his intellect. Normally we see in the world that worshippers of a particular form, name or virtue of God criticize and condemn the worshippers of other names, forms or virtues of God. This is a great mistake. If a person were to say that even in the Puranas this kind of contradiction is seen, one should carefully note that such statements are only simulations. They are written with a specific intention of enhancing devotion to one's worshipped form of God; it is not criticism. The scriptures say, "na hi nindA nindyaM ninditum" The intent of such comments is only to praise one's own side. Once Surdas humorously asked Tulsidas, "When Shree Krishn is the descension of all the sixteen aspects of Divinity (solah kala), then why do you worship Shree Ram, Who has manifested only twelve Divine aspects?" Tulsidas could have given a proper answer, but he also amusingly said: "Until now I only knew that Ram was my beloved prince; upon learning today that He is an avatar who is the manifestation of twelve Divine aspects, my devotion to Him has increased twelve times more!" It is the language of the rasik Saints who being internally one, sometimes joked with each other, just as you do with others in the world. One may say that the scriptures speak of partial descension (anshavatar), complete descension (purnavatar), descension with specific purpose or descension manifesting specific qualities (aveshavatar, kalavatar), and so on. This seems to be making distinctions between the different kinds of descensions. The fact is that a particular descension of God only manifests that much power which is needed at a particular time. Thus, according to the limit of the manifestation of the Divine power, a particular descension is categorized accordingly. This can be clarified by a simple example. A university professor teaches his young child, `A,' `B,' `C,' `D.' This doesn't mean that his intellectual ability is limited to this. According to the need that arises in different situations, his abilities are manifested. He may speak to his little child in the broken language of young children, he may speak to his wife in her mother tongue, he may speak to his servant in the servant's native dialect, but when he gives a lecture in the university, he reveals his full intellectual abilities. Similar is the situation of the Divine powers that are revealed by a descension of God. We should understand that all the descensions of God are indivisible, Divine and complete. Then what is worth reflecting upon is which avatar's form is most pleasing for a devotee to meditate upon. It is the experience of all of you that the mind does not desire merely a form. It wants a form that is beautiful and attractive. Taking this into consideration, meditation on the forms of Ram and Krishn is the easiest. If a person wanted to meditate upon another descension like Varah, when God descended as a Divine boar, he would conceive in his meditation a material boar, which the mind would not find very pleasing. Now think of the descensions of Bhagwan Ram and Krishn. We can easily understand that Krishn's avatar was the sweetest and that the leelas manifested during this descension were numerous. Initially, a devotee will not be able to continuously meditate on God's form. For establishing his mind in Divine subjects, he will have to take the help of the leelas, and the leelas of Shree Krishn are so sweet that the devotees' mind will be naturally attracted to them. Thus, meditating on the leelas is very easy. During Shree Krishn's avatar, the leelas of all the five kinds of loving emotions (bhao) were revealed. They are: shant bhao (the feelings a subject has for a king), dasya bhao (the love a servant has for his master), sakhya bhao (the love a friend has for his friend), vatsalya bhao (the love a mother has for her child), and madhurya bhao (the love that Gopis have for Krishn). According to his personal liking, a devotee can think about any kind of leela. In this way, sadhana becomes easy. Another point is that, even though Ram and Krishn are one, the sweetest leela Bliss that was revealed during Shree Krishn's descension was not revealed in Shree Ram's descension. This is the reason why the Saints who became God realized during Ram's descension, chose to come as Gopis during Shree Krishn's descension so that they could experience the sweetest Bliss of Divine love. Therefore, from the point of view of experiencing the highest Bliss of Divine love and the ease of practice, devotion to Krishn Who is all-loving and all-beautiful, Who is the stealer of the hearts of the Gopis and Who is the crown-jewel of all the rasik Saints, is most appropriate. You must understand that same absolute supreme Personality of God (poornatam purushottam brahm) is in two forms, Radha and Krishn. The Upnishad says, "yeyam rAdhA yazca kRSNo rasAbdhir dehenaikaH krIDanArthaM dvidhA 'bhUt" (Radha tapani Upanishad) Radha and Krishn are one, but, for the sake of leela, They are in two forms. Leelas are eternal, thus the forms of Radha and Krishn are also eternal. According to Ved Vyas, "AtmA tu rAdhikA tasya" Radha is the Soul of Krishn. The Upnishads also describe Radha as "hareH sarvezvarI kRSNa prANAdhi devI" It means that Radha is the Swamini of Shree Krishn; She is the life and soul of Shree Krishn. Now the devotee can meditate upon both, Vrishbhanu-nandini Radhikaji and Nandnandan Shyam Sundar who did maharas in Vrindaban, together or individually, according to his personal choice. (Prema Rasa Siddhant- Sri Kripaluji Maharaj) Jaya Sri Radhey! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 17, 2005 Report Share Posted June 17, 2005 , pyari_h <no_reply> wrote: > continued.. them. > > In Dwarika, Krishn's loving name is "ranchor," which means the one who > ran away from the battlefield. He received this title from His > bhaktas, because, out of fear of Jarashandh, Shree Krishn left the > fight and ran away to Dwarika. Pyari Ji please forgive me to contradict...BUT Shri Krishna did not leave battlefield out of fear of Jarasandh! How can Krishna, the Maha Yogi, Param Avtaar, the Brahm himself be afraid of a common person called Jarasandh ? There may be other reasons....try to explain them logically with my Pranamas Baba Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 17, 2005 Report Share Posted June 17, 2005 Namaste all. Dear Baba ji, Here is one of my favorite beautiful verses from Srimad Bhagavatam spoken by the great devotee Uddhava, which is very dear to Sri Kripaluji Maharaj. I love the way of his melodious chanting of this verse during his 'pravachan'! karmANyanIhasya bhavo 'bhavasya te durgAzrayo 'thAribhayAt palAyanam | kAlAtmano yat pramadAyutAzrayaH svAtman rate khidyati dhIr vidAm iha || SBh.P 3.4.16 "O Lord! Your activities are without any material motives, and Your birth is still of the birthless. Although You take the form of death itself, You flee into a fortress out of fear of Your enemies, and although You are satisfied in Your Blissful Self, You take shelter of many pleasing youthful women - all these actions of Yours torment even the wise and the enlightened ones with doubts." There is no doubt about it that when Sri Krishna's pastimes all show Him simultaneously omniscient and bewildering, this is the perfection of His own inconceivable potency. That is why the Vedas have also described the Supreme Lord being the "shelter of all contradictions". This bewilderment is also the very soul of Lord's blissful pastimes, that are the essence of the transcendental potency (Swaroopa Shakti of the Lord). These sublime Divine attributes are Lord Krishna's constitutional position. Queen Kuntidevi also expressed her admiration as well as bewilderment for the sublime childhood-leela of Lord Krishna: gopy Adade tvayi kRtAgasi dAma tAvad yA te dazAzru-kalilAJjana-sambhramAkSam vaktraM ninIya bhaya-bhAvanayA sthitasya sA mAM vimohayati bhIr api yad bibheti My dear Krishna, Yashoda took up a rope to bind You when You committed an offense, and Your perturbed eyes overflooded with tears, which washed the mascara from Your eyes. And You were afraid, though fear personified is afraid of You. This sight is bewildering to me. She also declared her realization: "tathA paramahaMsAnAM munInAM amalAtmanAM bhakti yoga vidhAnArthaM kathaM pazyema hi striyaH" Meaning: How, then, can we womenfolk perceive You, Who have appeared in our MIDST just to engender DEVOTION in the HEART of Paramahamsas (those endowed with the Eye distinguishing the material from the spiritual) who are given to CONTEMPLATION and PURE of HEART? (Bhagavatam 1.8.20) No one can understand the real intentions of your sportive actions when you simulate the ways of men in your incarnations. None is friendly or inimical to you. You come only to redeem Jivas and even the destruction of so called enemies is only to bless them and give them salvation thereby. SB 1.8.29 "bhave 'smin klizyamAnAnAM avidyAkAma karmabhiH zravaNa smaraNArhANi kariSyanniti kecana" "zRNvanti gAyanti gRNanty abhIkSNazaH smaranti nandanti tave hitaM janAH ta eva pazyanty acireNa tAvakaM bhava pravAho paramaM padAmbujam" (Bhagavatam 1.8.35,36) Meaning: Some others maintain that You have descended on earth with the intention of PERFORMONG deeds fit to be HEARD OF and DWELT UPON by those who are tormented in this world by ignorance, selfish desires and sinful acts. That is why Your devotees constantly LISTEN to, SING, REPEAT to others and CONTEMPLATE on Your stories and rejoice; and it is they ALONE who behold before long Your Lotus feet that put an END to the stream of births and deaths." mantreSu mAM vA upahUya yat tvam akuNThitAkhaNDa sadAtma bodhaH | pRccheH prabho mugdha ivApramattas tan no mano mohayatIva deva || An intimate friend of Sri Krishna, the great devotee Uddhava said: "O Lord! Your complete knowledge is never bewildered or decreased, and You are Yourself always aware, nevertheless You called me to Yourself to consult me and question me like an ignorant person. This bewilders my mind." S BhP-3.4.17 Devas of celestial abodes prayed to the Lord: O Lord, You need no support, and You have no material body, You do not need cooperation from us. Since You are the cause of the cosmic manifestation and You supply its material components without being transformed, You create, maintain and annihilate this cosmic manifestation by Yourself. Nevertheless, although You appear engaged in material activity, You are transcendental to all material qualities. Consequently these transcendental activities of Yours are extremely difficult to understand. SB 6.9.34 I could also explain with material reasons the 'logical' side of Sri Krishna being 'Ranchor' in my next post. Jaya Sri Radhey! , beirut_ka_baba <no_reply> wrote: > Pyari Ji please forgive me to contradict...BUT Shri Krishna > did > not leave battlefield out of fear of Jarasandh! > > How can Krishna, the Maha Yogi, Param Avtaar, the Brahm himself > be > afraid of a common person called Jarasandh ? > > There may be other reasons....try to explain them logically > > with my Pranamas > > Baba Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 17, 2005 Report Share Posted June 17, 2005 Namaste. "Lord Krishna's superiority is measured by RASA- not by philosophical understanding nor by logic."- Vraja Rasik Saints, the pure exalted Acaryas of Prema Bhakti, selfless Divine Love, have realized Lord Krishna as the Rasika Siromani, the Supreme Connoiseur. This is the exact teaching of Sri Mahaprabhu to Sri Roopa and Sri Santana in Caitanya Caritamrutam 2.23.78,79,80,81. Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu gives in the verse 2. 23.82,83 how that how the Divine RASA is revealed in Krishna. "Apart from these sixty transcendental qualities, Krishna has an additional FOUR transcendental qualities, which are NOT even manifest in the Divine Personalities, Lord Narayana and Sada Shiva Shankar. These are - 1. RASA of LILA (Lila-Madhuri) - Krishna is like an ocean filled with waves of Blissful pastimes that evoke wonder within everyone in the three worlds. 2. RASA of MADHURYA (Sringara rasa- Madhuri)- In His activities of Conjugal Love, He is always surrounded by His dearmost devotees Who possess unequaled AMOROUS LOVE for Him. 3. RASA of DIVINE FLUTE (Venu-Madhuri)- He attracts the minds of all three worlds by the melodious Divine vibration of His flute. 4. RASA of TRANSCENDENTAL BEAUTY (Roopa-Madhuri)- His Divine beauty and charm are beyond compare. When no one is even equal to Him, how anyone is greater than Him! Thus the Personality of Supreme Lord astonishes ALL living beings, both moving and non-moving, within the three worlds. He is so BEAUTIFUL and ATTRACTIVE that He is called KRISHNA." ('Bhakti Rasamrita Sindhu' deals with more details, giving explanations and scriptural references for each of the four mentioned special Madhuris of Lord Krishna.) C.C.2.23.84,85 "Above Narayana, Krishna has these FOUR SPECIFIC transcendental attributes- His wonderful pastimes, an abundence of His amourous Love and wonderful Divine Lovers who are very dear to Him like Gopis, His wonderful beauty and the wonderful Divine vibration of His flute. Lord Krishna is supremely exalted than other Divine Personalities like Lord Siva and other Lords of celestial abodes. He is even more exalted than His own Personal expansions Sriman Narayana and Bhagavan Shankar due to the fore mentioned FOUR EXCLUSIVE RASAS. In all, the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna has SIXTY FOUR (sixty + four) transcendental Divine attributes in FULL." Jaya Sri Radhey! , beirut_ka_baba <no_reply> wrote: > Pyari Ji please forgive me to contradict...BUT Shri Krishna > did > not leave battlefield out of fear of Jarasandh! > > How can Krishna, the Maha Yogi, Param Avtaar, the Brahm himself > be > afraid of a common person called Jarasandh ? > > There may be other reasons....try to explain them logically > > with my Pranamas > > Baba Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 17, 2005 Report Share Posted June 17, 2005 Namaste. If we recall the Epics and Purana, Jaraasandha, Bhima (Second in Pandavas), and Duryodhana were all born at the same time and equally invincible. Only one among these three heroes coud kill the rest of the two. Bhima killed both Jarasandha and Duryodhana only with the help of Sri Krishna, Who secretly signaled Bhima how to accomplish that task. When Jarasandha was attacking, instead of destroying him with his Divine power, Lord had no choice but to leave him alone to his death which was ordained only in Bhima's hands. If the Lord confronted Jarasandha, He would have to kill him and there by giving him Moksha or sending him to higher abodes. But if the Lord could just leave him in the battlefield to his own awaiting fate (death in Bhima's hands) without even confronting him, it would be less complicating to the inivitable future story that eventually took place. Even to engage in fight with the Lord, one has to be a great Bhakta, like grandfather Bhishma, or Jambavan (from Ramayana) or Ravana or Sishupala (Jaya & Vijayas of Vaikuntha). The Lord would not choose an ordinary, sinful mortal to be His opponent, unless He desires to elevate that surrendered soul from previous births. The demoness Putana was also blessed by the Lord due to her maternal desire towards the Lord in her previous life. Only His intimate devotees participate in all kinds of Lords playful exploits during His descension on the earth. Jaya Sri Radhey! , beirut_ka_baba <no_reply> wrote: > Pyari Ji please forgive me to contradict...BUT Shri Krishna > did > not leave battlefield out of fear of Jarasandh! > > How can Krishna, the Maha Yogi, Param Avtaar, the Brahm himself > be > afraid of a common person called Jarasandh ? > > There may be other reasons....try to explain them logically > > with my Pranamas > > Baba Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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